The Czech Republic will face Mexico, one of the tournament's co-hosts alongside the United States and Canada, as well as South Africa and South Korea in Group A. It will be only the country's second World Cup appearance since becoming an independent state following its separation from Slovakia in 1993.

At the 2006 World Cup, the Czech Republic exited the tournament in the group stage despite boasting prominent players such as goalkeeper Petr Čech, Pavel Nedvěd, Tomáš Rosický, and Milan Baroš.

Czech head coach Miroslav Koubek previously described Group A as "very difficult," expressing particular concern about the climatic conditions, especially in Mexico, where his team will play two matches.

The 74-year-old added: "Our goal is to reach the knockout stages. That would be a success."

Schick scored 16 goals in 28 Bundesliga appearances during a season disrupted by injuries for the 30-year-old forward.

Squad List

Goalkeepers: Lukáš Horníček (Braga, Portugal), Matěj Kovář (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), and Jindřich Staněk (Slavia Prague).

Defenders: Štěpán Chaloupek, David Douděra, Tomáš Holeš, David Jurásek, Jaroslav Zelený, and David Zima (all Slavia Prague), along with Vladimír Coufal and Robin Hranáč (Hoffenheim, Germany), and Ladislav Krejčí (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England).

Midfielders: Lukáš Červ, Alexandr Sojka, and Denis Višinský (Viktoria Plzeň), Vladimír Darida (Hradec Králové), Lukáš Provod (Slavia Prague), Michal Sadílek and Hugo Suchý (Sparta Prague), Tomáš Souček (West Ham United, England), and Pavel Šulc (Lyon, France).

Forwards: Tomáš Chorý (Slavia Prague), Mojmír Chytil and Jan Kuchta (Sparta Prague), Adam Hložek (Hoffenheim, Germany), and Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany).